A man convicted of manslaughter in a 2011 robbery has been granted day parole.
Andrew Pliska pleaded guilty to manslaughter, robbery with threats of violence and two counts of forcible confinement in October 2012. He received seven years and seven months in prison for his involvement in a March 2011 robbery in Gibbons, which left one man dead.
Pliska, 31, was granted pre release day parole in a Sept. 22, 2016 decision by the Parole Board of Canada.
On March 2, 2011 Pliska and three others attended a residence in Gibbons with the intent to rob the residents of drugs and money. Pliska remained in the car as the three other people entered the residence armed with a pellet gun and a knife.
Three residents were confronted upon entering the home. One victim, Cameron James Pethridge, 23, was stabbed in the abdomen and later died of his injuries.
Pliska, who was arrested in November 2011, has a history of drug-related offenses dating back to 2007. He will be released to a community residential facility on day parole for six months.
As conditions of his parole Pliska is obligated to report all relationships, he cannot consume, purchase or possess alcohol or drugs, and he is prohibited from being within 100 kilometres of Gibbons, Alta. Pliska may not have any contact, direct or indirect, with the victims or members of the victims’ family and must avoid persons believed to be involved in criminal activity.
Pliska was eligible for day parole at the end of January 2015 and full parole at the end of July 2015. He was released to healing centre in 2014 and 2015, before returning to a minimum security facility in summer 2015.
His statutory release date is set for December 2018.
In its decision, the Parole Board of Canada stated Pliska has followed his correctional plan and completed all required programs. He has also completed numerous escorted temporary absences, including a continued work release.
Pliska told the Board that he feels ready for day parole, but that “given the severity and nature” of the crime he did not feel “deserving.”
He told the Board he felt really terrible for the family of the victim.
When asked why he has not come forward to assist police in identifying the remaining individuals involved in Pethridge’s death, Pliska told the board he feared for his own safety and that of his family.
Two other men, Samuel Wasylynchuk, of Gibbons, and Kyle Elliot, of Morinville, were convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery in 2013.
The man who stabbed Pethridge has never been identified.
